Kevin Costner’s hi-tech oil-water separation machines are being used by BP in their efforts to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP spill saviour Kevin Costner

Of course, we all knew about Mr Costner’s role as a saviour in the world of Hollywood make-believe. He distributed the wealth in Robin Hood, protected Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard and stood shoulder to shoulder with native-American Indians in Dances With Wolves.

It turns out that Mr Costner has actually spent £13.5 million of his own money investing in the 15-year development of centrifuge oil-water separation machines that leave water 97 per cent free of crude.

Mr Costner’s boffin brother was one of the brains behind the technology.

There are 32 of the machines in total, manufactured by Ocean Therapy Solutions, and BP are now in the process of deploying them to the Gulf to help with the clean-up.

They can purify water at a rate of 200 gallons a minute.

‘This is the key,’ Costner told CNN recently. ‘It’s certainly a way to fight oil spills in the 21st century.’

BP spokesman Bill Salvin said: ‘We recognised they had potential and put them through testing, and that testing was done in shallow water and in very deep water and we were very pleased by the results.’